Poll reveals 52% oppose Murdoch C5 takeover
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Your support makes all the difference.The public is opposed to government plans to allow Rupert Murdoch the right to buy Channel 5 and American companies to take control of ITV, campaigners claimed yesterday.
The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom released results of a national poll that showed that a majority of respondents were unsupportive of the changes proposed in the Communications Bill which would allow foreign companies to take over ITV or Mr Murdoch and foreign groups to take over C5.
The independent poll by Taylor Nelson Sofres showed that 52 per cent of people were opposed to Mr Murdoch gaining control of Channel 5 and 32 per cent supported such a move.
But the findings revealed that young people were much more comfortable with the idea of the Australian tycoon taking an even greater role in the British media. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, the age group that has grown up with satellite television, 56 per cent of respondents thought that Mr Murdoch's control of Channel 5 would be a good thing and only 27 per cent were opposed to such a development.
Their views were markedly different from the 45 to 54-year-old age group, among which only 21 per cent were supportive of a takeover by Mr Murdoch and 68 per cent opposed.
But the findings may have been skewed against Mr Murdoch, because the question wrongly suggested that he "controls Sky TV", when in fact his News Corp empire owns only 35.4 per cent of the company and has a minority of directors on the board.
The poll, of 1,000 people, showed that 52 per cent were against American multinationals such as AOL Time Warner and Microsoft having ownership of ITV, with 23 per cent in favour. Again, more 16 to 24-year-olds backed such a change than opposed it.
Barry White, the national organiser for the campaign, said: "The ownership and control of the main television channels are key drivers of a nation's cultural development and clearly the British public cares about who has this sort of power and influence."
The Government is already facing a Lords rebellion over the proposals, with the Labour peer Lord Puttnam, the film producer, at the heart of the opposition.
Proposals to amend the Bill were scuppered by a guillotine on the debate in the House of Commons, but 126 MPs have signed an early day motion opposing the changes. John Grogan MP, who proposed the EDM, said: "I was frustrated that we didn't get a chance to debate and vote on this in the Commons. If the Lords knock it back then we will have a chance and there will be quite a big rebellion."
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